"There you are," Douxie said as the girl finally appeared on the screen of his laptop. The feed glitched and Claire adjusted something on her side before sighing.
"Sorry Doux," she muttered before hitting the side of her computer. The picture immediately became clearer. "The sewers don't get good reception."
"How close are you to New Jersey? You know, so you can get out of the sewers."
"Almost halfway. With so many trolls that, let's be honest aren't the nicest," she whispered, holding her hand up to block her mouth, "it's been taking- Hey!" Douxie let out a chuckle that turned to full out laughter when Claire suddenly stood up and yelled at some trolls behind the laptop in spanish. And from what he knew, some of her words were curses. The sounds that had been going on in the background stopped suddenly. Claire seemed satisfied and sat down with an exasperated sigh.
"Did Angel teach you those words?" To that, he got an outstretched tongue and fake glare. It only made him laugh harder which in turn made Claire laugh as well. Her hair fell in her face, showcasing her longer white bangs. "Have you dyed your hair again?" He asked as the laughter recceded.
"No actually. About a week back I woke up with my hair like this. I think it's a delayed effect of breaking my shadow staff. How are you and Angel doing?" Claire asked.
Her smile was genuine as was the question; Douxie could just see the other one burning in her eyes.
"I haven't found anything yet, Claire," he said it softly, as Claire's smile fell slightly, as her eyes flashed with disappointment. "I'm trying- really. But Merlin came up with the spell centuries ago and only tried it now and he never was in the habit of writing many things down-"
"It's ok, Douxie," Claire said, and ment it fully. "Jim is doing good. Yeah, he misses walking in the sun and eating regular food, but he's sorta embraced being a troll. Though, the armor is a bit of a problem. You got any ideas on how to get it off?"
"Um, no... are- are you sure?" Claire chuckled at Douxie's insistence on the matter, and how willing he was to help. Considering that Merlin wasn't trying at all and dissuaded any attempts before Jim asked her to stop trying so hard, it was nice to know he cared.
"It's fine, Douxie. I promise." He didn't seem convinced, so she went to distracting him, something she'd had oddles of practice with if the fact that Mary and Angel still hung out were any indication.
. . .
The arrow shot past the dark wood of the tree root Flapjack was perched on, embedding itself in the grass. The afformentioned bird chirped angrily at the girl who had let it loose, the arrow having come too close for comfort.
"Sorry FJ," Angel winced, pushing her hair behind her ear. She still hadn't found the time to trim it again or dye it, so it was now at the end of shoulders and her dirty blonde roots were showing. "Maybe I should try a different weapon."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Elsa said as she put a hand on her shoulder. Her voice had a slight norwegian accent, but it had faded over the centuries just like her sister's. "You just started."
"I still can't believe you know how to shoot a bow and arrow. I pictured you for a more magic wielder type of fighter." Angel demonstrated by pulling a maroon glow to her hand. Elsa chuckled, a breathy type of laugh, and Angel let the magic turn misty as it disappeared. Elsa's blues eyes shined as she looked to the sky, lost in a memory. It was the same look Douxie and the rest of band got from time to time. She had even seen Merlin have it at least once.
"A friend of mine knew how," she smiled. "She could go on about it for hours, but I could never understand that accent of hers."
"Was her accent Scottish and her name Merida?" Elsa's smile quickly disappeared and the non-existent clouds became the most interesting thing to her. "Just how many of your friends stories did you three sell?"
"Ok, you live for a few centuries, you have to find some way to pass the time." Elsa pushed some hair out of her face and sighed as she regained her composure. It was so quick and so fluid that Angel could definitely tell that she had been a queen. It always showed in the way she moved and walked and talked and smiled. Like now.
"Fair enough," Angel laughed. She raised the bow and arrow up to try and give it back to Elsa but stopped when she was met with a glare that only a queen could pull off. Damn her and her sister for being raised in Arendelle.
"You are going to practice a little more with this before I let you give up. Now-" A cold wind wrapped around Angel's wrists and forcefully lifted them to the proper position to shoot. "Try again." Angel chuckled nervously as she pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back.
The target was a simple one, not even a regular one. Just a circle of ice around an area of the bark on the tree. A beginners target as Elsa put it. Angel pulled the arrow back shakily aiming higher than before so as not to risk hitting Flapjack. Unfortunately, she overshot the target by about a foot.
"You're aiming too high," Elsa sighed as Angel pulled another arrow back. The wind pushed her arms down and left. Still, before she loosed the arrow, her hands had gone up again. The platinum blonde groaned and looked around. There was something holding her back, something keeping her from-
Chirp!
Flapjack had noticed her discomfort and glided to simply perch on Angel's shoulder and nuzzle against her cheek. She smiled softly, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She opened one eye and aimed properly for once.
This time, when she loosed the arrow, it hit right inside the circle.
. . .
"Hey Krel," Douxie said as he walked into the Mothership hallway. The boy, of whom was taller than Douxie in his Akkiridian form and made him slightly annoyed, had two of his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "What's going on?"
"I need to test out a new security system," Krel said as a control panel shot out of the side wall. "Since you and Angel told me about those Gammy masks-"
"Glamour mask-"
"And with Morrando on his way, I figured that we needed to make sure we knew who comes in and out of Mother. Now put your hand there," Krel said with smirk. Douxie did as told and Mother's interface came flying down the hall. He jumped back and was startled but didn't move.
"Voice activation required," she said. Douxie looked to Krel who nodded him on before Mother flew into his sight line and repeated her statement.
"Ok, um, Hisirdoux Casperan," he said. Mother turned red.
"Access denied."
"Douxie Casperan?" He tried and got the same reaction. "Douxie."
"Access denied. Three more attempts available."
"Oh come on. What did you put my name as?" Krel laughed, causing Douxie to glare at him.
He had told Krel to stop calling him that more times than he could count and would not acknowledge the stupid nickname anymore than he had too.
"Master Wizard," He said simply because he wanted that to be true. He'd told Krel about his wishes during the sleepover (before the prank). It didn't work.
"Just say it," Krel said with a very insufferable smirk.
"No- Master Wizard!"
"Access denied." Douxie groaned and pulled a hand over his face.
"One more chance~" Krel taunted. He laughed as he saw Douxie's expression change from annoyance to exasperated acceptance.
"Mr. Magic Man..."
. . .
She was going to do it. Angel finally had the time and money to get it and her job didn't require her to cover it up. As the bell rang and she entered, a familiar face greeted her.
"Hey Angel," Jack said from behind the counter. "Where's your shadow? Oh, I mean pet bird."
"He's not a pet, Jack," Angel countered, hands on her hips. "He's a friend. Something you are very close to not being if you keep it up." Angel didn't mean it if the smirk on her face meant anything. Jack smiled impishly as he raised up a picture to show her, her eyes lighting up at the art.
"Is that anyway to talk to the one who's about to stick your arm with needle a bunch of times?"
"That's amazing! And uh, don't remind me," Angel groaned, rubbing her left forearm. Jack's smile faltered slightly.
"I know Flapjack was supposed to be here to help. Are you sure-"
"I'm not rescheduling. Flapjack is just going with Arch to visit a friend. But I have time now, I have the money now; I'm doing this."
"Ok," Jack said as wrote something down and gestured to the nearby waiting area. Lots and lots of framed artwork examples covered the wall and a binder of some more was placed on a table. "Let me go get the seat and everything ready. I'll come get you in a few minutes."
. . .
Chirp! Chirp!
"We're almost there, don't get your feathers in a twist," Archie said as flew over the trees, the phoenix not far behind and giving an indignant chirp to his comment. "Well how was I supposed to know that was offensive?"
Uh, chirp!
"Yes yes, alright I'm sorry." Archie ducked into the trees he had been gliding over for quite some time, Flapjack following without missing a beat.
As the sunset cast orange and red shadows through the spaces the trees gave, the two creatures came up to what seemed to be a dried up well and perched on the side. "I still don't get why you won't tell her."
Flapjack, who had now taken his full phoenix form, rustled his feathers and bristled. He stared down the inky blackness of the well.
"What is it with you? Anytime I mention her being your familiar, you cut me off or change the subject!"
Chirp, chirp...
"What do you mean you can't?" Archie asked softly. The tone of his words left a mark, one that had him immediately want it to leave and never come back. It was the same one Angel, and Douxie if you pushed him, had when talking about the less cheerful aspects of their past. Flapjack glanced at Archie and sighed, a crack in his stupor exterior.
"My old familiar... They're still alive..." Flapjack practically whispered to Arch, though to any human passing by, it would just be a bird chirping. Arch stayed silent and let him speak. "I couldn't stand what they were doing, what they were planning. And when I left, they didn't like it and gave me this-" Flapjack stopped suddenly when the dragon brushed up against the scar that his feathers refused to cover in either form.
"You don't have to finish." Arch pulled back to look into Flapjack's brown eyes and give a reassuring smile. "And I won't tell her until your ready." Archie saw tears begin to form in the birds and gave him another nuzzle. He then pulled back quickly and moved to a playful position and wiggled his eyebrows.
Flapjack used his wing to wipe away his tears as he laughed. He gave Arch a look that asked if he was seriously challenging him, a phoenix, to a race. The dragon jumped closer with a smirk indicating that he was serious.
"You asked for it, dragon-cat!" Flapjack said as he rose up to hover. Archie followed suit.
"Three-"
"Two-"
"One!" The two finished together before shooting down the well.
(Yeah, I didn't know how else to put all of these moments in here, so this is both filler and setup for later. Hope you enjoy!)